Good employer for software engineers in Chicago, but not for those with a national scope - Avis employé Systems Developer Quantitative Risk Management

- Dynamic and never-boring projects. - Mentally stimulating

- Most projects don't get implemented

Compensation is lower than some financial firms in Chicago, but comparable or better than other firms with similar workloads. The work/life balance is quite good. Standard 45-hour week, and almost no pressure to put in more time. I never received resistence when asking to use my vacation time. On the technical side, QRM does make an effort to support using newer technologies. There are some very talented developers and technical managers here.

It's a pretty flat organization, but I was still very isolated from senior management. You receive pretty much 0 information about how well the company is performing. Draconian Internet access policy. Raises and bonuses are still around, but they are not nearly as impressive as a few years ago. Requirement to fill out time cards that add up for 45 hours a week (a bit weird for a non-billable salaried position). Lots of talent has left and QRM is slow to replace, if they replace at all. Relies almost exclusively on recruiters for new talent, which greatly limits the talent pool. The review process never puts you in contact with the people who actually decide your raise/bonus. On the technical side, QRM also has some technical managers who aren't keeping up with industry best practices. Many make decisions to get things done quickly, instead of getting things done correctly. Some of the developers are also pretty mediocre. QRM feels like a company on it's way down, and senior management seems to have no desire and/or ability to change anything to stem the bleeding.